You can’t accuse the IMF of being overly optimistic:

  • Global growth expected at 3.1% compared t0 3.3% in April
  • 2014 global growth forecast cut to 3.8% from 4.0%
  • US forecast to 1.7% from 1.9%
  • 2014 US forecast cut to 2.7% from 3.0%
  • Eurozone seen +0.9% versus 1.1% in April
  • Japan growth seen at 2.0% in 2013 (1.5% prior) and 1.2% in 2014
  • China growth forecast at 7.8% in 2013 and 7.7% in 2014
  • UK forecast at 0.9% vs 0.6% in April
  • Canada forecast at 1.7% vs 1.5% in April
  • IMF urges advanced nations to continue monetary stimulus
  • BRICs starting to hit ‘speed bumps’

The Fed is forecasting 2.45% US growth this year and the consensus is 1.9%. The IMF has a fairly good forecasting record and this could weigh on commodity currencies, which are near the highs of the day.

The full report is here (pdf). The only major economies getting upgraded forecasts are Japan, the UK and Canada.